CALENDAR→GLORIOUS GOODWOOD · 2026

Glorious Goodwood: racing on the downs, and why your enclosure decides which gate we use

[drv]

Doru Constantinescu

written for the 2026 festival, from the driver who does this run

28 JUL to 1 AUG 2026CHICHESTER, W. SUSSEX2H FROM MAYFAIRRICHMOND: JACKET AND TIEGATES 11AM

RUNS 28 JULFive days from Tuesday 28 July. We're taking bookings now; Ladies' Day and the Saturday Stewards' Cup fill first.

The shape of the day

Built around a first race near two and the mid-afternoon feature. Your day shifts with the card and your enclosure; we confirm both from your tickets.

10:15 AMWe collect you in town. Dressed for your enclosure, badges and a change of shoes already in the boot. It is two hours to the downs and the last lanes do not hurry.

12:15 PMDropped at your gate. Richmond is the West entrance off Kennel Hill, Gordon and Lennox the East off Selhurst Park Road. The wrong one is a long walk uphill, so we get it right.

1:00 PMLunch and the lawns. Time for the parade ring and a first drink before anything runs.

1:50 PMFirst race. Seven on the card, roughly half an hour apart.

~3:35 PMThe feature. The Group One that names the day, mid-afternoon, when the crowd and the hats are at their best.

5:45 PMLast race, then home. The car is back at your entrance before the field returns, so you walk down the hill once. Home for eight.

↑ the whole trick is the right entrance, and beating the hill on the way out.

WHAT'S IN THE BOOT

Your badges and racecard, printedYOURS

A hamper, if you asked for oneOURS

Two umbrellas, it is the top of a hillOURS

Water and something coldOURS

Flat shoes for the grass car parksBRING

The grandstand at Goodwood Racecourse in an 1838 racing print — Goodwood, the grandstand as the field comes home

How we prepare

WHEN YOU BOOK

We ask which enclosure you are in. Richmond, Gordon and Lennox each have their own dress code and their own entrance, and people mix them up. Richmond means a jacket, collared shirt and tie for men, checked at the gate. We also ask whether you want a hamper or a table booked.

THE DAY BEFORE

Parking sorted and the pass in the car. The course sits up narrow one-way lanes and the A27 around Chichester is the pinch, so the route is checked the night before. We read the weather too; it is one of the highest courses in the country and it turns fast.

WHILE YOU ARE RACING

Your driver stays on site, in the car park, not down in the town. We move to your entrance before the last race so you walk down the hill once, in the right direction, not twice.

Honestly, though

The train can beat us out. Victoria to Chichester is about ninety minutes, with a shuttle up to the course, and on a busy Saturday it clears the downs faster than any car. If speed home is the priority, we will say so.

Dress to your enclosure, not above it. Full morning dress in Lennox is as wrong as no tie in Richmond. Tell us your badge and we will tell you honestly what the day actually asks for.

The exit is a wait, not a dash. Everyone leaves the hill at once down single lanes. We make it comfortable, air on and something cold, but we do not pretend a car makes it quick.

for the five days

Tell us the day, your enclosure and where you are staying, and we will come back with a departure time, the right entrance and a fixed price, within the hour.

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